- Posted September 14, 2001 Share Posted September 14, 2001 Someone mentioned that Slayer's new album titled "God Hates Us All" came out Tuesday and someone else posted about [url=http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20010912/wr/attack_album_dc_1.html]The Coup's[/url] album cover depicting the WTC exploding. (FWIW, The Coup claims to be anti-capitalist, yet they want you to buy their albums... Huh?) MTV has abandoned their regular programming and has gone back to showing (gasp!) videos for now. I can't find the article I read, but MTV claims they're going to show relatively "soothing" artists. As anyone who's been around long enough (or has seen "Fear of a Black Hat"), a lot of popular artists like to get attention with shocking negative images/lyrics/etc... In light of recent events, would any nihilistic artist be accepted by the public? Or would they come across as the selfish, mean-spirited dolts they generally are? Note I'm not saying everything should be Bette Midler, PM Dawn, and "We are the World"... Nor am I arguing for a pro-censorship type thing... I'm just asking if you think the general public will now accept artists who rely on nihilistic schtick to gain notoriety... Because this week we've seen the logical result of nihilism hit very close to home, and it ain't pretty, glamorous, or cool. In a time of calm, a nihilistic "I'm so baaaad, I'm gonna blow up the WTC" attitude might seem mega-cool to certain people (even if it's expressed, ahem, "metaphorically"), but... In light of recent events, you almost want to say to those kinds of artists, well, you got the destruction you thought was too freakin' cool last week... Are you happy now? This message has been edited by popmusic on 09-14-2001 at 11:36 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFTurner Posted September 14, 2001 Share Posted September 14, 2001 All in all... this will pass and all, including an artist's way and the subject matter he/she chooses to convey an artistic message will goe on as usual. I would suspect a nihilistic artist and fan, just by working or appreciating his/her choosen subject probably has some kind of inner mechanism that allows for him/her to continue such a unimportant and negative outlook on real events as he/she does with the art. If art tries to imitate life... certainly the non-nihilistic artist and fan is only gonna be more put off by a nihilistic type of work. To that type of personality especialtlly during these times, the nihilistic thoughts representing violence, negativity, terror...etc are just as insulting, devastating and disturbing as the real events. I suppose if these events become a normal part of everyday life here you might find an increase of the nihilistic type of artist. Hope that makes sense. ------------------ William F. Turner Songwriter [url=http://www.csonline.net/wfturner/index.html]turnermusic[/url] This message has been edited by WFTurner on 09-14-2001 at 12:11 PM William F. Turner Songwriter turnersongs Sometimes the truth is rude... tough shit... get used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Studio Pet-Rock Posted September 15, 2001 Share Posted September 15, 2001 I don't consider what I do to be nihilistic, but a lot of the lyrics I come up with are cryptic. I was listening to some of my latest stuff the other night, just to get away from the damn tv for awhile. I heard so many clips & phrases in a lot of my songs that could be so easily taken out of context now. I can't bring myself to work on any of it at this point. All my equipment is collecting dust. "Curious came from far away to watch them fall". What does that mean now? Fuck it. Fuck all of it. This message has been edited by mdpetrick@yahoo.com on 09-15-2001 at 04:01 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
- Posted September 15, 2001 Author Share Posted September 15, 2001 I wonder if we're heading towards a more conservative era with our arts and entertainment in the U.S... I don't necessarily mean "conservative" in the traditional Republican sense, but the extreme artists being a bit more reserved because of what happened... Or because companies might be a bit more skittish releasing an album that appears to advocate violence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
- Posted September 21, 2001 Author Share Posted September 21, 2001 I thought I'd bump this back up to the top... I think this subject might deserve some more discussion, being that it ties together music and the WTC... Whaddya think? Are we gonna see a new Eminem-like act any time soon? Would corporations like the major record labels, MTV, etc. support an artist who appears to advocate violence now? Or is this going to be a taboo issue in popular music for the next ten years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpine Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 The bottom line will be, as it has always been, if the kids are buying, the record companies will sell it. www.relayerstudios.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
- Posted September 21, 2001 Author Share Posted September 21, 2001 So it's going to be "business as usual", then? The events of last week aren't going to cause any execs to have a conscience regarding what they'll sell? I just imagine this event changes things... It's already changed Hollywood. Schwartzenegger's new film has been shelved (it featured him fighting terrorists, and Arnie uses -- get this -- [i]no guns[/i] when fighting... Sounds like MacGuyver). There was a Disney/Touchstone terrorist-oriented action flick that was shelved, and another film (it might have been the same one as the Disney one?) with Tim Allen that's also been shelved. The Spiderman trailers were pulled because they featured some WTC shots, and Zoolander had some hasty digital removal of WTC from the movie. I dunno -- I thought that since Hollywood is very touchy right now about violence, that perhaps the music biz would be similar. At least, I think the events that occured are going to affect all the arts in *some* way... I just don't know how... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pro Jules Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 I am working on a rather melencholy tune with an inploring for optimism... Perfect! It really does seem to fit these times.. I didnt write it BTW I am 'just' the producer.. Jules Jules Producer Julian Standen London, UK, Come hang here! http://www.gearslutz.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inadequate.com Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 Much nihilistic art has always been an expression of horror at man's inhumanity, from Goya to IceT. After the first WW there were a number of artists who felt that it was no longer appropriate to express lofty ideals in the face of the overwhelming horror they had just experienced. I expect such ideas will continue unabated although I agree they will probably be marketed a lot less enthusiastically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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